Chirac corruption trial opens amid high political stakes

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Jacques Chirac: case dates from when he was Mayor of ParisIan Langsdon/EPA

Charles BremnerParis

Last updated at 5:27PM, March 7 2011

Almost two decades after the alleged offences, a Paris court opened the trial of former President Jacques Chirac on corruption charges today but both defence and prosecution immediately sought a legal ruling that could throw the case into limbo.

Judge Dominique Pauthe is to announce tomorrow whether he will halt the trial for a higher court decision that was requested by one of the nine other defendants in the case that dates back to the early 1990s, when Mr Chirac was Mayor of Paris.

However, lawyers for Anticor, an anti-corruption association that has pressed the case against Mr Chirac, accused